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An Unexpected Journey: A Newbie's Walk In Wet Shaving
- Thread starter Blade-meister
- Start date
Sweet Home Alabama! We landed here on 6/1. Been unpacking like crazy. Things unloaded a lot easier and quicker than loading. We had two tractor trailers of stuff and it was just me, my wife, and my two daughters but we got it all done.........in the heat. Surprisingly, we had little trouble getting the anvils off the truck.
So far, every person we've talked to or ran into in our area has been super friendly. Seeing the sun has been really nice because the part of NY I moved from saw the sun so little that Seattle Washington was the only place in the US that saw less sun - no joke, that was a fact.
Lots of unpacking to do and other work on the house. I had to build a workbench the last couple of days because I went from a single wide trailer shop and basement woodshop/forge down to a half a garage. I must say I've never had sweat drip off my nose before, but yesterday it was seriously hot and humid in my area of AL and I got my share of it building the workbench out in the garage. I'm getting used to the heat and humidity though.
I'm not sure what it is, but since I came south I've been getting the best shaves of my life! BBS, no irritation, smooth skin. Maybe all the sweating has purged me of toxins or something
So far, every person we've talked to or ran into in our area has been super friendly. Seeing the sun has been really nice because the part of NY I moved from saw the sun so little that Seattle Washington was the only place in the US that saw less sun - no joke, that was a fact.
Lots of unpacking to do and other work on the house. I had to build a workbench the last couple of days because I went from a single wide trailer shop and basement woodshop/forge down to a half a garage. I must say I've never had sweat drip off my nose before, but yesterday it was seriously hot and humid in my area of AL and I got my share of it building the workbench out in the garage. I'm getting used to the heat and humidity though.
I'm not sure what it is, but since I came south I've been getting the best shaves of my life! BBS, no irritation, smooth skin. Maybe all the sweating has purged me of toxins or something
Sweet Home Alabama
That's good to have nice neighbors. I'm fortunate enough to be able to say the same. Sounds like an excellent welcome.
Was at an intelligence wing of a museum today and saw this little beauty. I bet nobody on TSC has one of these!
Was happy to do this too!
Thanks for recycling!
Actually, I had to send the plates back to NY but the picture had to be taken. I will also admit that it was hard to just pitch all those recyclables in the trash her in AL after years of recycling in NY. We found a place to recycle our cardboard boxes from unpacking so that was helpful actually.Thanks for recycling!
One thing I have noticed is that when you live somewhere like NY, you don't realize just how many freedoms have been shaved away over the years until you get them all back at once when you move to a state like Alabama. I find I watch the news way, way less because I'm not worried that the newest bad press will become law and impact me. This is healthier all the way around. I'm just thankful to be here in AL. I've been getting such good shaves down here that I can get away with a simple 2 pass shave feeling nearly BBS everywhere.
A photo you'll treasure!
Thanks Mark. Folks have been real nice and real friendly around here. I'm actually in the Jacksonville area.Welcome!!
I left my propane grill in NY and just got me a Pit Boss so I can invite people over for BBQ!
No doubt you'll make friends quickly. You're assimilating smoothly, sir!
After a proper priming and burn-off, I smoked some burgers on the smoker yesterday. Dang they were tasty! Something I have to get used to is that smoked meat has a red color to it and that's a good thing. I thought I'd overcooked the burgers, but they were nice and juicy in the middle. They had such a nice smoked flavor I almost didn't put Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce on it like I normally do. Left-overs were equally as good today. Tomorrow........I'm smoking a whole chicken for the 4th. Being patient and realizing good things take much longer is what I'm learning here in the south. Take your time driving, stop and chat with people a while, and good eating takes hours in the smoker but it's all worth it. I bought some fireworks for the first time yesterday and just chatted with the guy at the register for 15 or 20 minutes. I think that's how things used to be and I'm glad things still are like that down here. You know it's a good day when you stop at the gun shop and the fireworks store.
On to shaving. Due to working a lot on unpacking and sweating in the heat I was shaving in the mornings and showering at night. I started face lathering the first pass and finishing up with a bowl lather after. I'm really liking this combo. I found face lathering for 3 passes was a bit too much action for my face but this gets the best of both worlds. I think the initial face lather also gets the lather building nicely on the brush so that when I hit the bowl I get nice thick lathers. I'm finding though that the air conditioning here in the south tends to dry the lather out quickly so I just get the lather on my face and dip my brush in the water in my bowl on that first face lather and then glide that water on top of the lather so it soaks in. Seems to work great. Still getting superior shaves since moving south. The best shaves I've gotten have been when getting right up and shaving without a shower. I'm a cold water shaver, so having no well water really makes me a lukewarm shaver at best but I'll take it.
On to shaving. Due to working a lot on unpacking and sweating in the heat I was shaving in the mornings and showering at night. I started face lathering the first pass and finishing up with a bowl lather after. I'm really liking this combo. I found face lathering for 3 passes was a bit too much action for my face but this gets the best of both worlds. I think the initial face lather also gets the lather building nicely on the brush so that when I hit the bowl I get nice thick lathers. I'm finding though that the air conditioning here in the south tends to dry the lather out quickly so I just get the lather on my face and dip my brush in the water in my bowl on that first face lather and then glide that water on top of the lather so it soaks in. Seems to work great. Still getting superior shaves since moving south. The best shaves I've gotten have been when getting right up and shaving without a shower. I'm a cold water shaver, so having no well water really makes me a lukewarm shaver at best but I'll take it.
Sounds like a great day.
Making progress in the garage shop. The post vise got mounted and I built a new table to hold my forge. I'm also starting to see bare spots on my work benches.
Lots left to do in between fixing the yard up and looking for work. I have some promising leads on the work front, but still no job. The above antique chalkboard survived the move and I wrote "Sweet Home Alabama" way back last fall. One of these days the shop area will be good enough to take pictures. The tops of the workbenches are made of pallet wood that I harvested and processed to be flooring for the cabin. My wife wondered why we had to pack it all and honestly I wondered if I should have bothered with it, but I'm glad I did. Plywood to cover the tops would have cost upwards of $200 and this wood looks a whole lot better though. I love the varied colors and wood types. I think the whole cost for the 2 long work benches I built was only $200 in lumber and several days of sweaty work by me. Didn't take me long to install one of the window AC units in the garage. It takes the humidity out and makes working out there possible when it's in the high 90's here in Alabama.
Lots left to do in between fixing the yard up and looking for work. I have some promising leads on the work front, but still no job. The above antique chalkboard survived the move and I wrote "Sweet Home Alabama" way back last fall. One of these days the shop area will be good enough to take pictures. The tops of the workbenches are made of pallet wood that I harvested and processed to be flooring for the cabin. My wife wondered why we had to pack it all and honestly I wondered if I should have bothered with it, but I'm glad I did. Plywood to cover the tops would have cost upwards of $200 and this wood looks a whole lot better though. I love the varied colors and wood types. I think the whole cost for the 2 long work benches I built was only $200 in lumber and several days of sweaty work by me. Didn't take me long to install one of the window AC units in the garage. It takes the humidity out and makes working out there possible when it's in the high 90's here in Alabama.
Went to a free museum locally and found some interesting shaving history. I'm sure @Spider could tell us a lot about some of the things in these pictures. Many of these were supposed to be Civil War era or older.
The top razor was huge so here's my hand for a size reference:
More shaving kit stuff
New shaving cup anyone?
The top razor was huge so here's my hand for a size reference:
More shaving kit stuff
New shaving cup anyone?
Your posts are always interesting, Mike. Please keep them coming!
Here's some of the museum stuff that I thought was pretty interesting as well:
This was a southern furnace made to smelt iron ore in the form of hematite for the Civil War. The Union destroyed it after the war. This area of Alabama has so much hematite that lightening is a real problem and many folks have lightening rods. Furnaces like this one produced pig iron. Pig iron gets it's name because the slugs produced looked like pigs. The pig iron was later refined to steel or wrought iron depending on what was needed.
Here was the Calhoun County Confederate Memorial. I found it refreshing that these men were honored for their service. I know today it's controversial, but these men fought for their way of live and freedom from Washington DC's control more than anything. They were brave Americans that deserve their honor as much as the Union soldiers who fought bravely.
Here's some interesting knives I saw at the museum too:
One of these days I'll get around to forging knives like these. There's something so American about a Bowie knife.
This was a southern furnace made to smelt iron ore in the form of hematite for the Civil War. The Union destroyed it after the war. This area of Alabama has so much hematite that lightening is a real problem and many folks have lightening rods. Furnaces like this one produced pig iron. Pig iron gets it's name because the slugs produced looked like pigs. The pig iron was later refined to steel or wrought iron depending on what was needed.
Here was the Calhoun County Confederate Memorial. I found it refreshing that these men were honored for their service. I know today it's controversial, but these men fought for their way of live and freedom from Washington DC's control more than anything. They were brave Americans that deserve their honor as much as the Union soldiers who fought bravely.
Here's some interesting knives I saw at the museum too:
One of these days I'll get around to forging knives like these. There's something so American about a Bowie knife.